These tools are of great help

Basic equipment for gardening in raised beds

Those who primarily garden in raised beds need different basic equipment. Long shaft devices like spade Etc. are of little use here; instead, small handheld devices are usually sufficient.

These tools are handy

For example, it makes sense to purchase these handheld devices:

• With a hand shovel and flower fork, seed grooves can be drawn and Dig plant holes.
• Use a hand rake to loosen the substrate between the plants.
• The substrate can be pulled smooth with a hand rake.
• You need a gardener's knife (also called a hip) with a curved blade for harvesting and removing sick / dead plant parts.
• If you are growing shrubs or trees, you need one Secateurs.
• A watering can / hose is required for watering.
• Gloves made of fabric or leather as well as latex protect against injuries and dirt.

Useful accessories

In addition to the basic equipment mentioned, the following utensils are useful: binding cord, wire,

Weed control,(€ 13.47 at Amazon *) transparent cover film, various support rods made of wood or bamboo and weatherproof labels for writing on. A bucket or mesh basket is useful for collecting and transporting plant residues, crops and small tools.

Any work in the raised bed

If the ground in the normal vegetable garden is still frozen, you can start the gardening season in the raised bed from around February. Especially in layered beds, it is still warm enough to grow vegetables despite the winter cold. With the help of a foil cover, gardening is practically possible all year round.

Gardening in the spring

From March / April you can sow the following types of vegetables in the raised bed: radishes, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, cut and pick salads, carrots, parsnips and root parsley. Furthermore, herbs such as parsley, garden cress, chervil as well as salad herbs such as rocket and Asian salads (e.g. Mizuna) are relatively insensitive to the cold. After watering, cover the seeds with white fleece (not foil!) So that the seedlings are protected from the cold.

Gardening in the summer

Warmth-loving vegetables such as peppers, chilli and tomatoes are only added to the bed after the ice saints. You can plant pre-grown cucumbers, zucchini, aubergines and pumpkins at the end of May at the earliest, or better at the beginning of June. From June you also put kohlrabi, broccoli, summer salads such as romaine and fennel. You should harvest the spinach now, otherwise it will start to shoot.

From August onwards, autumn vegetables such as late broccoli varieties, kale and Chinese cabbage, radicchio and endive are added to the bed. You can now also sow or sow spinach again. plants. From September onwards, you should also have an anti-freeze fleece ready to hand, as the nights can then get colder again.

Even in winter, the raised bed does not have to lie fallow: Cold and frost do not affect, for example, leeks, sprout broccoli, parsnips, rocket, parsley and celery. Cover the bed with a white fleece and harvest it by February so that you can start the new season straight away.